Quilt Therapy: Free Motion Quilt Retreat with Jill Schumacher

We just finished up one of our two annual free motion quilt retreats with Jill Schumacher. The retreat was held at Zephyr Point Presbyterian Conference Center, which sits on the east shore of beautiful Lake Tahoe.

21 Quilters came to Lake Tahoe on Sunday, which was "set-up, check in, and get settled" day. We saw lots of familiar faces and made new friends. Jill started right in after dinner with warmup exercises. Monday was a big day for the Beginners because they didn't really know what to expect. On Monday evening we had a small gift exchange to help everyone relax and get to know each other. Quilters were a little more comfortable on Tuesday and were starting to really get the hang of free motion quilting. Champagne and Chocolate was in order at Fabrics Unlimited on Tuesday evening, followed by more quilting. Wednesday was "Trapunto" day. Trapunto literally means "double stuffed" and is recognized by distinct puffy design areas on a quilt. Several teams of 2 quilters paired up for a sewing race on Wednesday evening. They took 40 strips of fabric 2 1/2" wide by 42" long and sewed them together end to end. They ended up with one gi-nor-mous strip, which they then cut in half and sewed together along the long sides. They continued sewing and cutting until they ended up with a quilt top that was about 32 strips wide. The fastest 3 teams won gift certificates at Fabrics Unlimited, and the quilt tops will be quilted and donated to Shriner's Hospital in Sacramento. Thursday was "Sashiko Sampler" day, and Jill taught everyone how to make those beautiful Sashiko stitches with their machines. (Traditional Sashiko is done by hand.) It was cleanup on Friday morning, followed by good-byes. Everyone had a great time. The good news is that we're planning on doing it all over again next year!!